Agriculture was one of the main beneficiaries of the Northern Ireland Executive's departmental re-allocation on Tuesday.

But it seems unlikely that much if any of the £7 million extra allocated to farming will filter through to farmers.

The funds are likely to be eaten up by a previous deficit in the Department of Agriculture's animal health budget.

When the new Agriculture Minister Brid Rodgers took control of the Department at the end of last year it was running with a major deficit after it had to pay to remedy faults in the BSE cattle tracing computer system last May.

Computer fault cost millions

The fault resulted in beef from 19 ineligible cattle being exported by mistake.

Beef exports from Northern Ireland were suspended and the Department was faced with a bill running into millions of pounds as it then began a massive programme to retag animals.

The Ulster Farmers Union has been pressing Brid Rodgers this week to try and match the £1m debt relief scheme which Irish ministers have announced for pig farmers in border counties of the Republic of Ireland.

But any extra money for Northern Ireland pig farmers would have to be approved during a lengthy process of discussions in Brussels.

Ulster Farmer's Union President Will Taylor said he would reserve judgement about the budget announcement until the details of how the money would be spent had been worked out.

Speaking to Radio Ulster he said: "We have to sit down with the Department and the minister and assess the situation, recognise the priority areas, get strategic funding to them to bring them back into profitability and competitiveness."

Cut in incomes

BBC Northern Ireland agriculture correspondent Martin Cassidy said politicians are hoping some of the benefits will filter though to farmers.

He said: "Politicians would find it difficult to ignore the particular problems in agriculture at the minute and I assume they would feel that some of this money will get to farmers.

"Perhaps if it goes into the department's budget the department will find a way to pass it on by not charging farmers.

"Because there has to be some mechanism to see that farmers benefit from this because that is the reality of the decision is that if it is only going to help department budgets it would be better if it had gone to need then the immediate need of the health service."

A larger department budget may mean that fewer administrative costs will have to be passed on to farmers but the extra money going into the agricultural civil service will be viewed in stark contrast to the 57% fall in farm incomes last year and the hardship that has brought.